Zero Espada
by ArrancarMaiden
Summary: Dead as a child, a soul becomes a Hollow. From Hollow to Arrancar to Aizen's most loyal and powerful follower, the Zero Espada. One-shot. 1st story in the Destiny Changed, Innocence Lost series.


Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me, not at all. If it did, I would be swimming in a pool full of money. But I'm not, so thus, I do not own either Buffy or Bleach.

Summary:

I've been able to see ghosts for as long as I can remember. They have always been there, on every street corner and in every building. Even at school. When I was little, I would often play with them. I didn't have that many friends, and the two kids I had met at school wasn't able to play with me that much. Their parents told them to stay away from my house, something to do with my daddy always being mean. I would get in trouble if I was gone to long away from the backyard or the park across the street. So I played with the ghosts in my neighborhood at the park, on the street, and in my backyard. Not that much in the back yard since then my daddy might see me, not them, and yell. I didn't mind, I liked the ghosts. The nicer ones anyways, since there were some that were really mean. Like the ghost that hung around the park. An old man who I was told by other ghosts had been a lawyer in his lifetime and had been notorious for bad business dealings. I didn't understand a lot of teh big words they used when telling me about him, but I knew to stay away from him. He would often chase me from the park when he saw me, from the very first day I saw him. I have no idea and still have no idea why he hated me so, but he did. He also kind of creeped me out, since he had a hole forming in his chest. There was a little bit of chain that was attached to it, but that was shrinking by the day.

But he was one of the few mean ones that I would encounter at that age. There was a little girl that I would often play with behind my house. She was a cute little thing with pigtails and a huge smile. She would often tell me she had no idea how she had died, just could remember going to sleep that night. Next thing she knew, she was staring down at her body, with a long chain attached to her body and the middle of her chest.

Somehow, it broke and allowed her to go outside. She had lived only two houses down from me. She hung around the neighborhood, mostly, for the first few months. Then she had seen me walking home from school and had wanted to play. I remember that day clearly. I had been walking home from school since daddy had told me that bad boys don't deserve to be picked up from school.

I had been crying when I had looked up and seen a girl looking at me. She was smaller than me, wearing a pink sweater, and had two pigtails done up by her head. But the thing that I noticed first about her was that I could see right through her. I thought that was cool, frankly. I didn't even think that she could hurt me. The existence of monsters mostly extended at that time to monsters under the bed. I didn't know it, but there were really monsters in my hometown. And they were very dangerous. They walked in my streets and probably very near my house. But to me, they wouldn't compare to those that lived in my own house.

"Why are you crying?" The little girl asked. I, being a little boy and never wanting to see anyone see me crying especially a girl, tried to hide the tear tracks on my face. The other day daddy had gotten really mean after drinking the bad stuff in the bottles and had thrown me at a wall. It had hurt, and I had had a headache since then. My ankle had also twisted and it hurt. That, along with some other things like the wish that daddy wouldn't be so mean and that he was like other daddy's that I saw playing in the park. I wished that he would.

I quickly wiped the tears away and put on a brave face. "I wasn't crying." I lied.

"You were too!"

"Was not."

"You were too!"

"Was not."

"You were too!"

"Was not."

"You were too!"

"Was not."

And that began the typical argument back and forth, until I messed up. Well that was the beginning of our friendship. Her name was Mia and she was five years old when she had died. She knew she was dead, and was matter of fact about it. But she didn't really mind, since she had not found that much to be good about being alive. Her mommy and daddy had been like mine, so we connected in that way. She knew what I talked about, the feelings, the pain. At the time, I wished with all of my heart that I could play with her forever and forever. That I can die and then be able to be with her all the time and not have to go asleep or school or anything likes that. I didn't know what I was thinking; I was just a little kid.

Then she disappeared. I remember exactly when she did, since I was limping and had sat at the swings until it got dark and I had to go home. I never saw her again, not there anyway.

I was seven years old when it all came to a head. In school that day we had made pumpkins out of colored paper and crayons and I brought mine home to mommy to have. But she didn't like it, and daddy tore it up in front of me and burned the pieces. That was the first time he did the bad thing to me. It hurt, and I cried throughout the whole thing. He hit me a bunch of times more for the crying and then I was thrown headfirst into the small cupboard and locked in. The cupboard was the place I was put in when I had been really bad. It was small, barely large enough for me, dark, and smelly.

It was later that I heard that bad sound. I didn't know what it was, and still don't know. I don't remember what happened next, since I was in the cupboard and was asleep. But I remember waking up dead, with my body below me. I looked down and saw a chain in the middle of my chest, attached to a metal plate thing. I tugged at it, but it wouldn't come off. The end of it was broken, I must of broken it somehow as I found out later or else I would be connected to my body. To this day I still have no idea how I broke it, but I did. There were policemen all around, and there were people taking photographers everywhere. I watched them for a while, but that soon became boring as they did nothing that was in the least bit exciting.

I knew I was dead. I was still a little kid, and the fact of being dead at my age didn't really bother me. I had lived with death for years, ever since my birth and every moment it had faced me. The possible death at the hands of my father, or the various monsters around my hometown even though I wasn't yet aware of them at that point. Death had been my constant companion. I was faced with it in the many ghosts that I had befriended. It just was now that death had chosen to take me, and as wierd as it sounds I didn't really mind.

After getting bored watching the policemen, my body and the other sheet covered body of my mother been taken away (I don't know where she was, nor did I really care. As horrible as it sounds, I didn't care for my mother. She had never acted like a mother should, even to try to protect her only son from the monster she was married to. She only hid in clouds of alchohol), I wandered away looking for some of my friends. I met a few of them in the park, and after they accepted and got over my being dead, we played.

I don't know how long I hung around. I played with my friends, and went and explored the town. I had only been to the supermarket and my neighborhood, nowhere else, so I was curious at what lay beyond. I found a town of death. Monsters walked the streets freely, with no one stopping them. The horrible things that they were able to do freely with no one even trying to stop them sickened and horrified me. I couldn't believe that this was my hometown.

Then my funeral came. There were surprisingly a lot of people there, most of them I have never known but all of them had been horrified and sickened by the abuse and death that had been part of my life as far back as I knew. The mayor even came and spoke of opening a fund, named after me, to stop child abuse. He got support from all sides, but I wasn't really interested. I was more interested in seeing the two little kids, my age, that came. Jesse and Willow, my two friends from school and could-of-been best of buds. Willow was incosoliable, being held by her mother and not being comforted despite others efforts. Jesse was in shock, that much I can tell. He was pale and shaking, it hadn't quite sunk in yet. I tried to talk to them, tell them that I was alright and everything was going to be okay, but they couldn't see or hear me. No matter how loud I spoke, they didn't know I was there.

It was at the funeral that the feelings started. Before, I didn't realize how bad it was being a ghost, where no one can hear you besides other ghosts or special people like me. The ghosts that I knew hid it so well, but it was bad. Sorrow came first, not being able to talk to my two friends Jesse and Willow. Then frustration as I tried to, and failed. Then anger. It was a neverending circle of negative emotions, and it started to show. I hung around my grave for a long time, not feeling like playing with my ghost friends. My ghost friends had started to disappear one by one, sometimes these terrible monsters would appear in their place. I stayed away, not wanting to know what the monsters were. They were Hollows, I found out later, my former playmates or friends, or acquantices, as they lost their hearts and changed. I didn't know that my other friends had started to disappear, one by one. Most of them, I later guessed, being eaten by the monsters.

Then the people in the black outfits came, and most of the monsters disappeared. They only came and went, leaving only emptyness behind them. No ghosts or Hollows, except me. Me, I hid. How I was able to, I had no idea, but I did. And they went away.

The chain was disappearing by the day, and a hole was starting to form. I was scared, I admit. I had no idea what was happening to me, but the feelings of despair, frustration, and abandonment grew stronger. Hate formed. They didn't actually deserve it, but as I saw that I was being forgotten and the world was continueing without a care, with even those that had come to my funeral forgetting and going on with their lives, I hated them. Even Jesse and Willow, for having what I did not and never coming to my grave to even say high. Come on, how hard was it to say hi! To come and just talk about what was happening to them in their lives. I wanted to know. I was terribly lonely.

The next thing I knew, the chain was gone, a hole appeared, and I changed. I don't know what I looked like then, nor do I really care. I knew I was huge, and scary looking. With this hideous white mask thing covering my face, but that was all I knew. I lost concept of time, and hunger was all I knew. Somehow, I met one of those people in the black outfits, and fought with them. They were pretty weak, easily loosing to even an inexperienced opponent as me. And then, I somehow, instinctingly, found myself going into this black hole in space. I didn't know what it was, but I knew that it was escape. Escape from my death at the hands of my opponent, since I was tiring and he was not. I went through. I'm not sure how I was able to open a gateway to Haeco Mundo, the home of the Hollows, but I did and that is all that is important. Where I fought to just survive.

Hunger was all I knew. In a barren wasteland, I hunted, ate, and then hunted some more. I evolved, but I still hunted. I evolved into the last stage of the Hollow race, a Vasto Lord. I looked like a human, just with scaly skin and claws. All of my memories came back, of the time when I was human. I remembered everything, even the parts I didn't want to remember. I even can tell you to this day what I wore on the Day.

I wandered around Haeco Mundo, and surprisingly made a name for myself. A few lesser and weaker Hollows even began to follow me around, and I let them. They called me Master, even though I told them not to, but they did it anyway. I gave them protection against other Hollows, and they grew stronger. And some time after that had met me and had been given protection. I grew to be fond of the dozen or so Hollows that followed me around. The number grew as the years went by, but I can say that no Hollow of that group EVER got eaten. I was watching and protecting them, and never slept. They evolved, and some actually grew to be pretty strong.

I made enemies of course. One, a Hollow by the name of Nnoitra, hated me on the spot. Still don't know why to this day, but he hated me. After Aizen-sama came, though, he didn't last long. An Arrancar by the name of Grimmjow killed him, very slowly and painfully for insulting Grimmjow's lady, Nel. **(Yes, in this fic Grimm and Nel are together).**

That was when Aizen-sama found me. I, along with my 'little gang' had been watching a fight among a monkey-like Hollow and a Hollow that resembled a lizard fight (the lizard was winning, but the monkey was just not dying), when I had felt something. It was like a shiver ran through me, and an invisible wave of spirit energy passed through me. I turned around just in time to see two figures appear.

One was a strange fox-like guy whose grin was slightly creepy, but I can just tell that he wasn't someone to mess with. One would just have to feel the waves of power he had, and one would know not to attack if one valued living. If one was intelligent of course. Someone like Nnoitra would of just attacked straight away and probably would of been destroyed quickly and utterly, or slowly if creepy-fox-man wanted to.

But the other was even more powerful. He had brown hair and glasses, and the waves of power almost drove me back. I stayed on my feet, but my little gang of followers did not. They were all knocked to the ground, and stayed there looking wide-eyed at the newcomers.

I found out that the brown haired man was Aizen, who was leading a war against the Soul Society. I had heard of the Soul Society of course, who hadn't? The Soul Reapers killed so many of my kind, without remorse or even thinking of us as anything other than animals that needed to be destroyed. They were arrogant and weak, and needed to be destroyed.

I joined Aizen-sama, and he made me into one of his arrancar. The only thing separating me from the humans or the Soul Reapers are the red lines on my face just below my silver eyes, the remains of my mask that acted like earrings and a necklace, along with a little bit that covered my ear, and the hollow hole in my stomach. Beyond that, I looked human. That made it easier to do what Aizen-sama assigns me to do.

I am his Zero Espada, the most powerful of them all, even more powerful than Stark. But I am the only one that the Soul Society does not know about, they even know about Stark from that one time that the lazy Espada participated in an attack. When that happened, it was only luck and Aizen-sama's orders that kept the Soul Reapers alive. He had plans.

I mostly go out into the world doing what Aizen-sama wants me to do. Yep, I am his errand boy, but call me that and you will die a very, very painful death. I am his agent, I recruit hollows and future Arrancar, I find artifacts, and I make alliances. Alliances for the future that Aizen-sama has carefully planned is very important, perhaps even more important than destroying Soul Society at the moment. Out in the living world, there is what is called demons. A few of those demons, the more powerful ones, Aizen-sama wanted me to make alliances with, and treaties. They will support us if they are ever needed, while likewise we, or mostly me, will come to their aid. One thing that I had done to show my seriousness was to kill the current Slayer, Buffy Summers and her Watcher. It was pathetically easy. As Ulquiorra would say, they were trash. Ulquiorra, out of the other Espada, is one of my favorites. He is efficient, loyal, and gets his job done. Also the fact that he is quiet and not always asking questions or talking about himself is a bonus.

My little gang, including Mia, still likes to come and gather around me whenever I am in Los Noches. But the number has grown to include many more Arrancar. You can call them my little fan club. It is interesting to see how a society has grown in Los Noches. Clubs, groups, dances, parties, all have come together. But one thing is strange. Every, well the same time each day, since the days are difficult to determine here, all of the lesser Arrancar all get together and talk. What they talk about I don't know, since they all stop and stare at any Espada who come in the room until they go away. Me included.

So I am his secret weapon that will be used soon. Aizen-sama hasn't said when, but when I unleash my power against Soul Society, they will die. All of them.

One of my unique gifts is that I can appear what ever I want to be. Human, Soul Reaper, Arrancar, etc. No one can tell the difference, unless they know me personally and only our side knows me. Not even that old senile guy of Soul Society would be able to tell. So, I have been ordered to now go into the fight. But not openly, but from the shadows. I must recruit one more person, the person that like me will win this war.

Ichigo Kurosaki. He is the one that Aizen-sama wants and will get. My job is to recruit him, get close to him. It won't be hard, all of his friends are now presumed dead. They are not, actually are waiting eagerly for Ichigo at Los Noches. Aizen-sama had found them and taken them to Los Noches. Soul Society really is very stupid. Under the guise of an attack by Espada, Soul Society had tried to kill them all. Rukia, Inoue, Renji, Chad, and a few others. By that act, Soul Society lost even more that was on their side. A few of the other captains, including Ukitate, Byakuya and Hitsugaya, deflected too. So Soul Society was down to very few, with most of their captains and officiers gone, and was doomed. They intended to use Ichigo, and then kill him also. How stupid can they get?

Ichigo had been very down lately, and needed a friend. I am interested, and actually want to earn the friendship of the Vaizard, so it won't be under false pretenses. All I have to do is show him the truth, and he will come.

Soul Society is on borrowed time, and will fall very, very soon. I can't wait for that moment, and when it comes, I am going on a long, long vacation. Maybe to a beach somewhere, where I'll sit under an umbrella and sip lemonade (the one beverage that I have a big weakness for).

&&&

I realize that a few things are probably wrong, esp. names or ranks. If you can't guess, basically all the characters deflected to Aizen's side after the attempted assassinations of all of Ichigo's friends. So anyone who is not that old icky guy deflected. Here, they got replaced with a bunch of stupid weak people on the Soul Society. So the good side, well bad in the show but good for me because they are my favs, is going to win and utterly destroy Soul Soceity. Hehe. I didn't want to kill anyone I wanted off, so there. Don't like it, oh well. But my story.

Kinda stupid story but had to get it out of my head.

Oh, if you can't guess, the main character is Xander. All from his point of view, and his Hollow name, the name that everyone in Haeco Mundo know him buy, is not revealed. How did you like the lemonade part. Had to put it in, got a real craving for it right now. ^_^

**OKAY EVERYONE!!!!! I GOT A VERY RUDE REVIEW OVER ON TWISTING THE HELLMOUTH FOR THIS STORY, SO TO CLEAR UP SOME THINGS HERE. THIS IS MY STORY. I AM PLAYING AROUND WITH IT, SO I HAVE TWISTED IT TO SUIT THE NEEDS OF THE STORY. I LOVE BLEACH BUT I ADMIT TO NOT BE THAT KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THE DETAILS OF THE SHOW. SUCH AS THE NAMES, RANKS, AND THINGS LIKE THAT. AGAIN I HAVE CHANGED IT TO WHAT I WANT TO. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT BUT DON'T BE RUDE LIKE KON WAS. IT'S MY STORY, MY FANFIC, AND IT IS THE WAY IT IS BECAUSE I WANT IT TO BE. WRITING FANFICTION IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN, BUT IT IS NOT IF ALL YOU GET ARE RUDE REVIEWS. I WRITE BECAUSE I ENJOY IT, AND I DON'T HAVE TO DO RESEARCH. IT IS MY STORY, AND ITS THE WAY I LIKE IT. **


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